But contemporary cryptocurrencies have their shortfallings. Extreme price volatility and a lack of adoption by merchants and consumers still loom as barriers towards crypto becoming reliable mediums of exchange for purchasing goods or services continue to rise.

That is where the Liven integrated payment facility comes into play, providing a stable and reliable method for consumers to pay for their everyday dining experiences using the blockchain.

How LivenCoin challenges existing cryptocurrencies

In April, 2018 Liven announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency and ICO to allow its users to pay for their meals using the digital currency — LivenCoin (LVN) — which will replace its already existing internal currency LivenCash.

How it works is simple: users book and pay for their meal using the app and 15 to 30% of their bill spend is reimbursed as LVN, which can be used on future purchases, or donated to charity.

Liven’s ICO will see 1750 million LVN tokens made available for purchase, with the cap set at 100,000 Ethereum — or around $65 million.

While the goal of cryptocurrencies to date has been to create decentralised payment platforms, that iteration of the blockchain is not compatible with the way that the everyday consumer spends money.

The LVN token system aims to make the blockchain work for normal people and normal businesses.

How the Liven network works for merchants

The challenges to get Australians to adopt cryptocurrencies are largely eliminated through the LVN token system.

Users and merchants can pay and accept payment through a dual market system, where traditional payment methods can be combined with the Liven platform.

That means you can pay for your meal using LVN only, credit or debit card only, or a combination of the two.

And merchants aren’t locked into receiving their end of day takings as LVN, they can elect to receive the payments as fiat currencies (legal tender) — no matter how the customer paid their bill.

It is a model that is flexible and insulated from the manipulation and volatility that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum currently experience.

We know that most Australians aren’t interested ‘re-learning how to use money’. Playing to this notion, the LVN token platform removes the complicated nature of using currencies like Bitcoin while also providing options to merchants to receive funds the traditional way, or the cryptocurrency way.

Best of all, there is no hefty research required to use Liven or LVN, no need to exchange money and no need to watch markets to determine the value of your currency. All you need to do is sign up, book and pay for meals and earn LVN for free meals down the track.

LVN for charities

Finally, Liven’s new token platform will unlock new potential for charitable fundraising by providing a fundraising channel for charities that is both transparent and efficient — showing donors exactly where their contribution is going using the blockchain, while simultaneously lowering the costs required for charities to raise funds.

Liven has been supporting charitable organisations since 2015 through its “Save and Donate” feature, and it is an authorised fundraising agent for ten of Australia’s most reputable non-profit organisations.

The addition of blockchain technology extends the capabilities of donation platform, and Liven will allow registered charities, community organisations, or social groups to fundraise through our platform and establish wish-lists for items that can be directly paid for by users of Liven.

Further details on the LVN network and the economic model on which the coin is based are provided in the public whitepaper, which is due for release shortly.

Read more about how The LivenPay project is building a stable cryptocurrency for the real world, and making the capabilities and benefits of blockchain technology accessible for brick and mortar businesses and everyday consumers in this announcement.